Web accessibility is more important than ever as store owners, web designers, and accessibility advocates work together to make the Internet accessible to all. Having a website or eCommerce store that meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ensures that your website is accessible to those with disabilities and can potentially mitigate the risk of being sued for not being in compliance.
The most common way site owners make their sites accessible is to enlist the services of a technology partner that specializes in web accessibility, such as accessiBe. Your Store Wizards is an accessiBe partner and has implemented their solution on many of our client’s stores. Once installed accessiBe works behind the scenes using artificial intelligence to automatically make your website or eCommerce store compliant.
We recommend all store owners take web accessibility seriously to not only serve the needs of disabled users but avoid frivolous lawsuits that can cost you thousands of dollars, not to mention the time and effort, just to settle.
With an increased focus on making the web accessible to all, shopping cart providers are working diligently to make their platforms compliant. The most recent to do so is BigCommerce.
If you’re a BigCommerce store owner, you’re probably already familiar with the default “Cornerstone” theme. This theme is the one that the majority of stores are built off of thanks to its flexibility for customizations.
BigCommerce has announced that the Cornerstone theme will meet Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (or WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards by the end of Q1 2021, which is big news for store owners!
Additionally, with the latest Cornerstone update, 5.2, there are many key areas where the theme already meets WCAG 2.1 Level A compliance including:
- Keyboard accessibility
- Timing
- Navigation
- Input modals
- Readability
In their release notes, BigCommerce states, “our goal with these updates is to not only deliver a better, more accessible experience for shoppers but also to help set merchants up for success by including as many accessibility best practices as possible into our default free theme.”
If your BigCommerce store is using another theme, they have announced that accessibility updates will be coming for more of their themes, as well as ones from other developers, over the next several months.
Stores using the current version of Cornerstone will already have the latest accessibility updates. When the new version of the theme is released, you’ll see a notification to update in Storefront → My Themes.
For more information on accessibility support within BigCommerce, visit their support portal at support.bigcommerce.com.
For help getting your Yahoo! Store, BigCommerce, or Shopify store compliant, feel free to contact us using the form below.
Scott Sanfilippo began his eCommerce journey in 1994 by co-founding one of the Internet’s first online retailers, TheFerretStore.com, which was acquired by PetCo in 2006. In 2001, he co-founded the eCommerce design and marketing firm Solid Cactus, which was acquired by web.com in 2009. Today, Scott is the General Manager of Your Store Wizards and lives in Delray Beach, FL. Scott can be contacted at scott@yourstorewizards.com.